Anxiety and perceived stress of pregnant women towards COVID-19 disease and its related factors in Kashan (2020)

Introduction: The current and alarming condition of Covid-19 pandemic may cause stress and anxiety in pregnant women. Due to the high prevalence of the disease in Kashan, this study was performed with aim to determine the anxiety and perceived stress of pregnant women toward Covid-19 and its related factors. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was performed in 2020 on 360 pregnant women by electronic questionnaire in Kashan. Data collection tools were demographic-fertility information questionnaire, the questions related to Covid-19 disease, coronavirus anxiety scale (score range: 0-54) and Cohen perceived stress questionnaire (score range: 0-56). Data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 16) and statistical tests of t-test, ANOVA, linear regression and Pearson correlation coefficient. P <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The total anxiety score of pregnant women in relation to Covid-19 disease was 18.71 ±12.48 and the perceived stress score was 24.57±7.00. Linear regression test showed that person's job, problems during pregnancy, delivery history, family members infection with coronavirus and concern about the consequences of the disease for themselves and the infant were the predictive variables of perceived stress score; and the variables of family members infection with coronavirus, concerns about infection of themselves and the infant, concern about receiving prenatal care, and the presence of problems during pregnancy were the predictors of anxiety scores in pregnant women. Conclusion: The level of anxiety and stress of pregnant women was high during the Covid-19 pandemic and women had many concerns about infecting themselves and the infant or referring to receive prenatal care.